Heels for shoes



Aug; 13, 1957 GRIFFIN 2,802,285

' HEELS FOR SHOES Filed Feb. 15/ 1957 'INVENTOR l9 0 7 NORMANM. GR1FF1N RNEY Unite States Patent 1 O 2,802,285 HEELS FOR SHOES Norman M. Griflin, Govans, Md. Application February 15,1957, Serial No. 640,534

1 Claim. (Cl. 36-66) This invention relates to heels for shoes.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a shoe heel of such construction that the wearer of the shoe may himself replace the worn portion of the heel, with a minimum of expense and effort, and without requiring a visit to the shoe repair shop or the like.

A further object is to provide a shoe heel construction including a detachable portion or insert and a body portion which is permanently carried by the shoe, the arrangement being such that when the insert becomes wornduring use, the wearer may readily remove it from the body portion and replace it with a new insert.

A further object is to provide a heel constructionadaptable for newly manufactured shoes and also as a replacement heel for conventional and existing shoes.

Another object is to provide an all rubber heel of the above-mentioned character which will be extremely comfortable to Walk on, long lasting in use, neat and attractive in appearance, simplified in construction and inexpensive to manufacture.

Still another object is to provide a heel of the abovementioned character having a replaceable portion in the region subject to wear and including novel means to prevent accidental separation of the replaceable portion from the heel body portion due to kicking an object or the like.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentduring the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same, 7

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the heel in an assembled con ditionuponashoe.

Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the heel.

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken upon line 33 of Figure 1.

ure 1.

Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view of a slightly modified form of heel.

Figure 6 is a side elevation of the heel illustrated by Figure 5 in the assembled condition.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration are shown preferred embodiments of the invention, attention is directed first to Figures 1 through 4, wherein the numeral 10 designates generally a heel body portion preferably formed from a molded integral section of relatively hard rubber or the like, the material employed for the heel being preferably of the type customarily used in conventional rubber heels. The heel body portion 10 has an upper face adapted to engage the bottom of the shoe proper and to be secured thereto in any preferred conventional manner, and the heel body portion is of generally uniform thickness about its marginal portion. The body portion 10 is provided with a central integral depending lug or portion 11, as shown, of approximately the thickness of the upper portion of the heel body portion 10, and extending from the forward end Figure 4 is a similar view taken on line 4--4 of Fig- "ice of such body portion to a point rearwardly of the longitudinal center of the heel. :The rear end 12 of the depending portion 11 is rounded, as shown, and such rear end is preferably substantially concentric with the correspondingly rounded rear end 13 of the heel body portion. The lug or projection 11 has straight parallel side walls 14, approximately parallel to the side edges of the body portion 10 and spaced inwardly equidistantly from the opposite side edges of the body portion 10. The projection 11 is thus arranged at the transverse center of the heel body portion and extends longitudinally thereof from its forward end throughout a considerable portion of its length, but terminating forwardly of the rear end 13 of the heelbody portion. It may be seen that the projection 11 forms with the upper part ofthe one piece heel body portion 10 a generally U-shaped large marginal recess 15 extending about the rear curved end of the heel and the two sides of the same. The U-shaped recess 15 is rectangular in cross section, as shown, with its entire outer side and bottom open for the reception of theinsert to be described.

Outwardly of the projection 11 and between this -pro= jection and the marginal edge of the heel body portion 10 are a plurality of preferably equidistantly spaced openings 16, formed in the top 'of the heel body portion. A corresponding number of reduced openings; 17 are formed through the lower face of the body portion 10, centrally of the openings 16 and communicating there with as shown clearly in Figures 3 and 4. The arrange ment of the openings 16 and 17 provides annular'shoulders 18 at the bottoms of the openings 16 'fora purpose to be described. r

A generally U+shaped detachable wear element or cap 19 is provided, as shown, and this wear element is also preferably'formed or-molded integrally from rubber, synthetic rubber or the like. The U-shaped element 19 is preferably of the same thickness as the depending projection 11, and rectangular in cross section and of a size to completely fill up the rectangular recess 15 of the heel body portion 10 when applied thereto.

A plurality of upstanding snap fastener elements 20 corresponding in number and spacing to the openings 17 are formed integrally with the replaceable element 19 and project above its top face, as shown. The snap fastener elements are somewhat elastic or resilient, being formed of the rubber or rubber-likematerial'used for? all parts of the heel construction.

Each snap fastener element 20 is generally mushroomshaped and includes a reduced cylindrical neck 21 adapted to snugly enter one of the openings 17, and an integral enlarged rounded head 22 having :a flat bottom face 23 to engage the annular shoulder 18 when the head is disposed within an opening 16 of the heel body portion 10. The arrangement is such that the openings 17 stretch and the resilient heads 22 are deformed somewhat to allow the snap fasteners 20 to engage within their openings in the manner shown for firmly securing the detachable wear element 19 to the heel body portion 10. As should be obvious, the wear element is readily removable by pulling the snap fasteners out of engagement with their respective openings in the heel body portion and the rubber material of the elements will yield or deform to permit this. While the U-shaped wear element is readily detachable from the heel body portion, it should be emphasized that the snap fasteners 20 hold the wear element firmly and tightly in place upon the heel body portion so that it will not become accidentally displaced as when the wearer of the shoe kicks an object or catches his heel upon a curbing or the like.

To further guard against accidental displacement of the wear element 19, and to prevent dirt from entering between the top of the wear element and the bottom face of the heel body portion 10, there is preferably provided upon the forward ends of the U-shaped wear element 19 a pair of upstanding integral flanges or lips 24. which are engageable within forward recesses 25 provided within the body portion 10 as indicated. It should be apparent that the lips 24, as shown in Figure 1, will reduce the possibility of the forward ends of the U-shaped element 19 becoming separated from the body portion 10, and the lips render it impossible for dirt to enter between the heel body portion andwear element 19 at the forward end of the heel.

In Figures 5 and 6, there is shown a slight modification of the invention which differs from .the first form only in that the protective lips or flanges 24 for the purpose specified are formed integrally with the upper heel body portion and the bottom projection 11', as clearly shown in Figure 5. The forward ends of the U-shaped replaceable wear element 19' are correspondingly cut back by amounts equal to the thickness of the lips 24, as shown at 26, Figure 6. Allother parts and their functions are identical with the corresponding parts shown and described in the prior form of the invention.

As shown in Figure 6, when the replacement element 19' is applied to the heel body portion 10, the depending lips 24 of the latter will effectively prevent separa? tion of the element 19 from the heel body portion, due to kicking an object while walking, and the lips also prevent foreign matter from entering between the heel body portion and the replacement wear element.

From the above description, the use or operation of the invention is substantially obvious. As the U-shaped element 19 or 19' becomes worn from Walking, instead of taking the shoes to a repair shop for replacement of the worn heel, the wearer by hand simply removes the worn element 19 and easily replaces it with a similar new wear element. The user of the invention will be able to secure a desirednumber of the replacement wear elements with the purchase of new shoes, or when replacing the worn heels of conventional shoes. In the latter case, the conventional heels will be replaced by the present heel, as shown in Figure 1 of the drawing, including the body portion 10 and replacement wear insert or element 19.

It should also be mentioned that the heels in accordance with the invention will be constructed in a full range of sizes for mens, womens and childrens footwear. Although the body portion 10 and wear element 19' are preferably both formed from rubber or the like, it will be possible, if preferred, to form the body portion 10 from leather or some other substantially rigid material, and in these cases the resiliency of the fastener heads 22 must be sufiicient to allow them to freely enter the reduced openings 17. To facilitate this action, the user may readily place a small amount of lubricant upon the snap fastener heads when applying the wear element to the heel body portion.

It is to be understood that the forms of the invention herewith shown and described are to be taken as preferred examples of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claim.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

An all rubber heel construction for shoes comprising a heel body portion, an elongated projection formed upon the bottom of the body portion and being of lesser width than the body portion and centered transversely thereof and terminating short of the rear end of the heel body portion and having a rounded rear end, said projection extending somewhat forwardly of the forward end of the heel body portion and forming therewith recesses on opposite sides of the projection at the forward end of the heel body portion, the heel body portion having a substantially U-shaped row of socket forming openings therein on opposite sides of and around the rear end of said projection, a U-shaped replacement heel section mounted upon the bottom of the heel body portion in surrounding relation to the sides and rear end of said projection and having a bottom face flush with the bottom face of the projection and ends flush with the forward end of the projection, upstanding lips carried by the ends of the replacement heel section and engaging within said recesses on opposite sides of the projection and at the forward end of said body portion, the margins of said replacement heel section and lips being flush with the margin of said body portion, and a plurality of upstanding generally mushroom-shaped resilient snap fastener elements integrally secured to said replacement heel section and corresponding in number to said socket forming openings and arranged in a U-shaped row and adapted for engagement within the socket forming openings for detachably securing said replacement heel section to the heel body portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 311,009 Kannaley Jan. 20, 1885 1,283,468 Clarke Nov. 5, 1918 2,531,963 Banner Nov. 28, 1950 

